Wrap Skirt

Sewing Circle

A wrap skirt is a great beginner sewing project because it requires very little fitting and is flattering on many body types. This wrap skirt is also what is called a half circle skirt. This means that the skirt gets its volume by virtue of concentric circles. The outside circle is the hem and it is much longer than the inside circle which is the waist. Therefore when you straighten the circles to put it around your body the extra fullness at the hem undulates and creates beautiful fullness at the hem without any gathers. This is also how tuxedo ruffles work. This is the best example I could find in 5 min. on Google.

Materials needed:

2.5 yards light to medium weight woven fabric

1 yard light weight fusible interfacing

Wrap Skirt Photo

Me with my helper. She is very interested in the bow.

1. Prewash your fabric at least one time to allow it to shrink. I usually wash and dry twice. Use the washing machine settings that you plan to use in the future when washing this item and I recommend using the dryer even if you plan to line dry in the future. This is called “Prewashing” or “Preshrinking” the fabric. You will want to finish the cut edges to make sure they do not unravel while washing. You can do this by:

  •  Using an overlock stitch on your sewing machine
  • If you have a serger you can also use it to finish the edges before washing.

2. You can also prewash your interfacing even if it has an adhesive backing. Do this by soaking it in warm water and then lay it on a towel to dry with the adhesive backing facing up.

3. Press your fabric after it is completely dry. Do not press your interfacing if it has an adhesive backing.

Use one of the following cutting layouts to cut all the needed pieces. Notice that there are a different number of belt pieces depending on how wide your fabric is.

If your fabric is 60″ wide use the following cutting layout:

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-60in-unfolded

You can also cut out the skirt with the fabric folded in half and then cut the pocket and belt separately with the remaining fabric unfolded. That layout would look like this:

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-60in-folded1

Then unfold the remaining fabric and place the belt and pockets as shown below:

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-60in-folded2

If your fabric is 45 in wide use the following cutting layout:

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-45in-unfolded

Just like the 60 in. cutting layout, you can cut the skirt and 2 parts of the belt on the fold and then unfold the remaining fabric and cut the remaining pieces. That layout would look like this:

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-45in-folded1

Then unfold the remaining fabric and cut the final belt piece and the pocket:
wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-45in-folded2

wrap-skirt-cutting-layout-45in-folded2